Courier readers get a special audio gift for Christmas this year.
In 2004, the Vancouver Courier published a story by Ted Hunt that recounted his childhood experience facing a Christmas without his father Art who was away fighting in the Second World War. Called simply “A Christmas story,” it’s a blend of local history, nostalgia and personal remembrance.
Readers have asked about the story over the years. In response, we recorded a dramatic reading of A Christmas Story as performed by Vancouver actor Wayne Wiens. To find the recording, go to the online version of this story at vancourier.com. You can also find it on iTunes, Tunein and Stitcher by searching for the podcast This is Lotusland and downloading the A Christmas Story episode.
Hunt, a third generation Vancouverite and contributor to the Courier, said last week he wrote the story as a way to deal with the loss of his father the year before. "I missed him a lot," he said. "It took almost a year for me to square it away and realize it was a story I wanted to tell."
Hunt's father joined the Canadian Army at the outbreak of the Second World War and served in a port company until the war's end. He joined partly to escape the poverty of the Depression.
"He was broke" Hunt said. "He thought it was an opportunity for him." And it was, according to Hunt. He returned from the war as an officer and used his veteran's bonus to join up with two friends to form an import and export company. He was later hired by the federal government as a port shipping inspector. Hunt said his father, who seldom talked about his war experience, felt embarrassed that he had flourished in the midst of so much suffering during the conflict.
According to Hunt, the vivid details in the story come from memories that have remained with him since childhood. "When I write, it's like watching a motion picture," he said. He remembers the fear he felt as a child listening to BBC radio reports on the victories by the Axis armies and as the map on the wall in his grandparent's home showed the advance of the Germans in Europe. That sense of fear underscores what he hopes readers ultimately retain from the story.
"The insanity of war, that's the nucleus," he said. "Why do we do this when we all want the same things: mother, father, baby, live."
